Are charities doing enough on race equality?

I write towards the end of Race Equality Week 2024, which this year has the theme #ListenActChange, a challenging call to action if ever there was one and one which caused me to reflect on whether the charity sector, and our own organisation, is living up to the challenge to tackle race inequality.

#ListenActChange was chosen by the Race Equality Matters community to build on the theme from Race Equality Week 2023, which aimed to send a clear message that race equality is everyone’s business,. #ListenActChange aims to galvanise everyone into action and was chosen because:

• Only 25% of the Race Equality Matters community believe that their organisation is focused on action, change and impact (rather than words).

• 63% believe that less than a quarter of allies are actually helping tackle race inequality.

• 44% say their senior leaders and managers are committed to tackling race inequality, but only 21% said those leaders and managers are making a difference.

The charity sector is far from immune from the challenges of race inequality. There are countless reports on the sector’s failings on race. For example, only this week Racial Action for the Climate Emergency published a report showing that the proportion of people of colour working in environmental charities is less than half the UK average. While we’d like to this this is not typical of the charity sector as a whole, our experience suggests that it really is.

Moreover, only a couple of years ago we wrote about a report from Reach Volunteering on Trustee diversity, which gave compelling evidence of unconscious bias in the recruitment and selection of Trustees, particularly in the area of race, even when people of colour apply for openly advertised positions. Sadly far too many charities still do not openly advertise Trustee roles, almost guaranteeing that their Boards will remain monochrome (people tend to know people like themselves and so are more likely to ask people like themselves to join their Board).

We equally know we need to do more to tackle race inequality as a business. As a white British man I know I have so much more to learn about race inequality. I make time to listen to colleagues and client and learn about their experiences of race inequality. I know we should do more.

We act on this learning in our service, for example by making equity, diversity, inclusion and belonging a central theme of our governance review and board development work. We proactively seek associates from diverse backgrounds (particularly women and people of colour) so that we can offer clients teams who they can relate to and who understand their experiences. We can and will do more and are tremendously grateful to our colleagues with lived experience of racism and discrimination for their patient challenge, which helps us identify our unconscious biases and change how we work to address them.

Tackling race inequality is a moral imperative. It equally helps charities increase their impact for beneficiaries. Diverse Boards and groups typically have a better understanding of beneficiaries needs, avoid ‘group think’, address unconscious bias and support fairness and equity in the work of the charity.

We all need to do more and better. We are committed to that. Are you and your charity?

To find out more about the governance support and training we offer, please contact us at julian@almondtreeconsulting.co.uk to arrange free initial telephone discussion.